Pages

Monday, December 29, 2014

Hi People! How are you this blustery snowy morning? Living the High life of that week of no school? I hope so!

So it was cool to see your smiling faces this last week and meet little Jace Face... He's just as cute as he looks in pictures so that's a relief. :)

We're just going to town here in North Platte, it was cool because last week while I was e-mailing you I realized how important it really is to focus on the Temple (I guess you can receive revelation where ever you are if you're seeking the spirit) So we titled this week the week of progression. We are going to help this ward be progressing. We are all at different points but it is so important that we never stop progressing. We have to keep climbing up, no plateauing okay?

So here's the Progress for this week... It snowed the day after Christmas... (thanks for hogging the snow clouds you crazies!) The Kroons now have an established vision of their family being sealed in the temple. That's cool! The Bowkers are also more committed to their goal of being in the temple again. We starting teaching their granddaughter-in-law and she's more committed to read from the Book of Mormon and learn. We met a lady that had received a He is the Gift card earlier in the week that accepted a Book of Mormon. We're working more with the members and helping them have a better vision of doing missionary work. The Clutters are praying for people we're hoping to teach. We're praying for people they're hoping to teach. It's a good system.

Missionary work is a work of progression. I feel like the more we do it we seriously do grow closer to our Savior. I hope you all understand that, that's why we'll all be missionaries for the rest of our lives okay? Our Savior is right there just waiting for us to choose to grow closer to him.

I love this promise. The lord will be our LIGHT forever. No matter how dark it may seem or busy or chaotic or whatever. Our responsibility in receiving this promise is to hear the words. Listen. So that's what I want to share with you this week. I hope you are all listening to the spirit. Stop and be still for a moment and really listen. Then let that light guide you forever because it will.

I love you all! I hope you have a fantastic week and New Years! Talk to you Next Year!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Another crazy week out here in the fields of Nebraska! So much Joy, who knew that sharing glad tidings of great Joy would be such a special experience? It really is the most Joyous thing a person could do. Perhaps I mentioned this last year but I'll say it again, I truly feel that we were among the angels declaring good tidings of great joy at the time of the Savior's birth, and our spirits haven't changed! We to this day will forever have the greatest joy as we Declare this Joy!

So it was busy! Christmas Zone Conference was such a treat... So much love from all of those missionaries. President and Sister Weston gave training's on the Savior and how our hearts have been changed from reading the Book of Mormon. It was perfect. Because the Savior loves us so very much he gives us the opportunity to Change every day and he gives us a perfect tool to change us, the book of Mormon. If I haven't said it enough than I'll say it again, I know that book is true and I am so very grateful for it and the strength it gives me every single day and hour of my life. I don't know what I'd do without that.

We also were blessed with an opportunity to go to Kearney and work in the Kearney area for a day, that was exciting. Sister Lutz and Sister Wilson are our Sister Training Leaders and they are fantastic. They have such love and are very skilled in helping me personally to feel loved, appreciated and capable to press forward. It was a good exchange and I got to meet a family that Sister Youngberg helped activate, that was a tender mercy. I love all the people that we get to meet and to cross paths with.

Once back in North Platte it was back to work! We are trying to find a solid family to be teaching! We're doing what we can! I was reminded this morning about how important it is to be exactly obedient. That is our sole responsibility, the Lord will provide all the rest to accomplish his work if we are obedient. Cool right? It's simple but not so easy!

There are some incredible people we are working with however, families that are preparing to go to the temple! That's a really cool conversion to be a part of as well. We will hopefully be able to help these families have the Faith to Live all of the commandments and truly receive all the blessings our father has in store for them. That will be a miracle I hope to see, seeing more than one family enter the walls of the temple! (it feels like forever since I've been to the temple! It's rough living so far away from the temple!) I hope you all appreciate how close the temple is to you and take advantage of going often! That would be my Christmas Wish for you, that you get to all be in the temple together. I'll be there in spirit and we'll all go some day :)

I love you all so very much! I"m excited to see your little faces on Thursday! Thank you so very much for your love and support! Thank you for the letters and little packages! I appreciate all that you do for me! You truly are the best family in the whole world! Love you forever!

Love Always,

Sister McMaster

Sister Wrubell and Sister Page...love these two sooooo much!

Sister Harris and I Woot Woot!

Found Sister Newbold! We played Sleigh Ride! It felt sooo good to play that again...we went way too fast as normal but had the whole room clapping with us thanks to the goates encouraging clap...man I love our family!

Monday, December 15, 2014

This week was transfers!! They took my Sister Newbold away! I was actually quite shocked! But it seems the Lord has plans greater than we can see so I'm trusting him every single day. It's the best!

My new companion is Sister Harris, and crazy enough she has served in North Platte before! (she was trained here by Sister Stiles... small world!) So she knows the area better than I do so that's useful! The ward was super surprised to see her back but it's cool to work with her.

Our week was kind of crazy! We were just going going going which is great, but also a bit tiring. We helped a family move in and are excited to be helping them adjust to the ward. We also had some really powerful lessons one with my favorite people the Redhouses... We invited them to read the Book of Mormon every day and if they did we'd act out the tree of life for them.... I never thought that would make an 8 year old so excited, so this week we have plans to act out the tree of life... should be pretty epic.

So weird study experience this morning I wanted to share. So I have a very distinct memory of watching General Conference with Grandma McMaster October 2003. I don't really know why but it was one of the years you all went to St. George with out me and I stayed with Grandma, but I remember really loving the talk by President Monson about bridges. This was just a vague memory but this morning I was reading Sister Harris' ensign which happened to be from Oct. 2003 and found the talk by President Monson. It's a sweet talk and I wanted to share with you the poem from his talk:

So for some reason when I was eleven this poem impacted my life.... and upon reading it again the Spirit was so strong in helping me see that as a missionary we are sometimes bridge builders, we are doing all we can to bridge people's relationship with the Savior and help the find the greatest Joy. In his talk Pres. Monson talks about how Jesus Christ builds bridges for us and helps us to return to our Father in Heaven. So it makes sense that in order to become like the Savior we too must be bridge builders. So when times are difficult it's important to pause when you cross your difficulty, and look back and see how you can bridge that trial and help someone else over a similar struggle.

Oh I wanted to throw out a thank you to the Japanese McMasters! I received a big ol diaper box full of Japanese goodies! Sister Newbold was surprised to try seaweed stuff... haha That was very sweet of you to send! Thank you thank you thank you! Sister Harris will love it I'm sure! We have Zone Conference this week and have to leave at 5:45 tomorrow morning! Woot woot! Pray for us to drive safely! I get to See Sister Wrubell who got transferred back to York... I'm super excited about that. Life is really going well as a missionary. I'm loving every day and I am excited for the Christmas Miracles that await! I hope you all have a beautiful week! Love you forever!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Hope you are all having a beautiful Monday! It's crazy here... 70 degrees... so much for winter! But I'm not complaining.

So short update from North Platte. Things are going well, seeing miracles as always. We got to go on an exchange to Kearney! My first one in a while... it was a good little adventure :) We got to see Sister Smith and Sister Lutz! They're fantastic sisters that I love a lot! Sister Lutz and I shared the "he is the gift" video with lots of people and invited them to Loan a book of Mormon to someone by Christmas. It really is the best way that we can share the gift. Have you all seen that video? If not look it up here ya go <christmas.mormon.org> it's a real treat. It is so powerful, I think I've watched it at least 50 times in the last couple weeks.

So this is why I love it, it reminds us of this incredible principle (3 Nephi 27:13)

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the worldto do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

So ya see? The gospel is the gift from our Heavenly Father, and that gift is the atonement. Today in my studies in Moroni 7 (where you should be if you are caught up with finishing by tomorrow) I learned that Hope=The Atonement. So the gift that we were given upon coming to this earth was HOPE. That is beautiful to me, I hope it is to you as well. I know that our Father in Heaven wants us to share that gift the best we can with whoever he places in our paths.

This week we found some new people to teach which is fantastic. A lady approached us asking how we knew that God was real, we told her that the Book of Mormon was evidence of God's love and that she could pray to know that God loves her. She took the book and gave us her address. So we went and met with her.. and she actually got baptized like 20 years ago... so kind of a pre-baptized investigator situation... but still a cool experience. She said she hadn't prayed in years because she felt like god wasn't real. But because we invited her to she did. And she said... "Sisters... I just know that God is real, he really answered my prayer" Such a sweet lady. I hope we can somehow help her progress in the gospel.

We also will be working with the youth and we have 3 potential investigators that are quite promising. We talked to a lady that had visited with Elders years ago and she was interested in us coming back... so lots is happening! We still have faith that people will have a desire to be baptized in the coming weeks.

Oh exciting family! There is a less active family named the Redhouses, and they have come to church the last 2 weeks. They have a son that turned 8 in July and isn't baptized yet, we finally got the Ward Council on board and it's amazing how that is what get things going! He loved primary when he went and the family is beginning to progress towards the temple, that is the most fulfilling thing ever!

We'll find our about transfers this week! I hope Sister Newbold and I get to stay together for Christmas! I'll let you know next week :) OH we also moved back into the Marshall's house yay! It's good to be with members again :)

Be happy and healthy! Don't get ear infections! or colds or any of that stuff. And keep reading the book of Mormon. That's all I got for ya. Love you to the moon and space!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Hello today! Did you eat lots and lots of turkey this week? I sure hope so!

We had quite a fulfilling week... (spiritually and physically) So many great experiences, I wish I could just throw them all up at you... but that's disgusting and I don't know how to do it.

Really though. It was a sweet week. Faith building for sure. We actually got to go to a homeless shelter on Thanksgiving and serve Thanksgiving Dinner there. That was cool. We're going to start doing service there regularly, but it was so cool to forget ourselves and how we weren't with the people we're most grateful for (you guys!) and just serve people. That's the best thing about missionary work. You just get to love serving people everyday. It's the best thing ever.

Miracle of the week... so I'm sure you're wondering about how our 25 Book of Mormon loans did... well I'm sad to report we only got 15. So i'm assuming you all did your job and our combined efforts equal 25! right?! Haha regardless, our faith grew like a weed. (That's what Sister Newbold says grows fastest) ready for the story??

There we were. (pause for dramatic effect)

Praying. What's new right? We decided in our companion study that we needed to pray in every prayer to find a family to teach. Combined faith is super powerful. We went to district meeting and were inspired by a training that was recapping instruction from a General Authority, it was incredibly motivating and gave clear instruction on how we can work with the Members better in helping this work become a team effort. Then we received a phone call from a recent convert from Kearney (random... unexpected...) She asked us to come visit her because she was in North Platte for Thanksgiving. So we did. We drove to an obscure part of our area hoping to help this girl. While parking we saw a girl sitting on the corner of the street... "Go talk to her!" was the thought in my head... but the girl we were visiting ran out of her house and we didn't get to go see that girl... ( I mentally named her Charlotte..) Our lesson with her went well but it was time to go home after the lesson. No family yet.

Two days later: The girl from Kearney calls us again.... and wants us to come over again... (strange... we doubted our need to go) We called the Kearney Sisters to see if it would be helpful to visit her multiple times and they strongly encouraged us to go.... so we did. And again had a decent lesson with her in an obscure part of our area. This time it wasn't too late, so we went to go find Charlotte. We stood at the door and knocked. Miracle of miracles Randy opened the door. He and his family want to be taught, and they know 2 members of the ward. They were very open and we invited them to come closer to Jesus Christ. Doesn't mean they'll get baptized... but they could! My faith was strengthened. I know the Lord is aware of every single person in this world. He cares enough to teach us. So keep praying, and press forward when opposition seems to arise. He'll provide a way. He always does.

I hope to report more miracles. Mostly though I want you all to know how grateful I am for each and every one of you. I hope you have seen your testimonies grow in the last few weeks, I hope you thank our Father in Heaven for the testimony that you have. Keep the Faith! Love you all!